ARD407 Ideas and Concepts - ARD409 Creative media Production ( Storyboard for a Game Trailer Evaluation)

Work on this assignment began from 1st May - 16th August 2013. Upon receiving the brief, my first task was selecting the preffered type of games, these were: Trenchdog (First World War) , Mario Spacehog, Freedom Force, Warbosses, Penalty, LadyKills, LEGO Lunacy, and Eyepet Lizard. The Ladykiller category did interest me however I was more taken away with the Warbosses theme. First thoughts were Warhammer4000 so I thought it would be interesting to link the two in some way. The requirements for the category included butch characters and over sized weapons. This explains my link between Warbosses and Warhammer4000. After selecting the category, I decided to conduct some concept sketches. Earlier in the year from a past assignment, I developed a story/game concept that was related to the Warhammer/ fantasy/sci-fi themes. After gaining permission to develop this concept, this enabled me to add much more detail than with the previous attempt and make the appropriate changes.

(Sadly, there have been technical issues while uploading the images for this post. I shall attempt again at a later date.)

Part of my assignment involved market research. I looked at trailers and posters to strengthen my concept further. I am all too aware how crucial marketing is to the gaming industry as this is were you attract potential customers and players. Thus trailers must be appealing to the customer. I looked at Skyrim, Dead Island and Thief 4 trailers and posters. These reviews are located within my sketchbook and are on my blog. For me, I really enjoyed the market research as this enabled me to get a better understanding of my industry and it's promotional material. For the storyboard, I was  aiming to show my growing knowledge in film language and experimenting more with colour and mixed media. Storyboards are vital as they are a means of communicating your ideas to your client or your team. Therefore, it is of great importance that they understand what your attempting to convey. All in all I created three drafts for my storyboard but I realised that the sequence doesn't have to be complicated so I opted for a more abstract and simple look. From looking at trailers, I acknowledged that the viewer doesn't really see much due to voice overs, black screens and flashing imagery. In my opinion, I believe my storyboard has vastly improved from previous assignments, there is a lot more contrast, composition and colour which adds reality to the storyboard.

The other part of this assignment required a poster illustrating out game concept. As I had Glandula fever earlier in the year, my tutors kindly asked for a poster created using traditional media rather than digital. The following media was used: coffee, tipex, black ink pens, biro, watercolour paints, acrylic paints, masking tape and graphite. Techniques: stencils, flicking, stribbing, For me, mixed media and composition took first priority. I have really enjoyed using unconventional forms of media to create a piece that interests my tutors. For another assignment, character sheets were required, these could be any character I wished, any time period etc. So I thought it would be beneficial to include these within the game trailer assignment.

This last paragraph will discuss my concept designs of the characters, weapons, mark making sheets and colour choices. I conducted a colour mark making sheet based on acrylic paint samples. A script has also been provided. From selecting various colours, this is what I use to create my traditional game poster. These mark making sheets consisted of tipex, coffee, graphite, charcoal, hairspray, fine liners, permanent marker pens, black biros, black ink pens, water, acrylic, stamping, stencils, oil pastels etc. Again I must apologise for the lack of photos, I will try and rectify this problem. Instead, I shall give a brief description as to what the character look like, personality etc. On the concept sheets feature the following:

Wisdom - Lead Female
Age: 21
Description: Green eyes, navy blue tattoos on the right side of her face, mid back length red hair (white when in combat,) long dark purple armour, straps of black fabric on her arms, shoulders, a black collar that comes just under her ear, plated white gold armour for the ankles, legs, knees and upper legs. Plated dragon horned footware, long black undershirt and a dark soft leather belt with stamped solid silver clasps and decorated metal plating. Wears the accessory that holds the key to unlocking their memories on a thick solid silver chain.
Personality: Strong minded, wise, athletic, trustworthy, tomboy, kind hearted.
Skills: Has power over all elements, can decode the DNA of anything weather dead or alive and use it to her advantage, archery and tree climbing.
Main Weapon: A curved elemental bow that alters it's shape and colour as the character progresses through-out the game.

Mercy - Lead Male
Age: 22
Description: Wears an identical necklace with a thick gold chain, short black hair with long fringe, dark brown leather trousers, waistcoat with white laced collar, white gold plated knees, leg and ankle guard, ivory hood, black undershirt, leather foot bandaged foot-wraps with scraps of fabric laced across his right arm along side intricate tattoos, a navy blue sash with blue trimmings all through-out his armour and bandaged wrist-guards.
Personality: Humorous, kind hearted, ferocious, physically strong and first aider.
Skills: Dual wields curved gem-stoned one and a half swords. Enchanter, survivalist, tracking, hand to hand combat, acrobatic.

Overall, I have really enjoyed this assignment. This has enabled me to experiment further in my discipline and developed my skills in film language, composition, colour, contrast, formal elements etc. I hope to receive a similar brief in the future where I am able to use fine art techniques and media.